OAKLAND (KCBS) – The first of several security cameras being installed in Oakland’s Fruitvale District went up Thursday at the restaurant where the longtime owner and community leader was shot to death.

“We want to make it harder for criminals to come into the Fruitvale and get away with crime,” said Mario Juarez of the Oakland Latino Merchants Association.

KCBS’ Chris Filippi Reports:

Oakland Merchants Welcome Fruitvale Security Cameras

The ACLU of Northern California said Oakland needs to lay out clear out rules on whether footage from the security cameras should be considered a public record. The organization wants to know who besides police officers will have access to the tapes.

Several Bay Area cities such as El Cerrito, Pittsburg and Richmond have partnered with private businesses in recent years in an effort to increase video surveillance.

Despite their presence as a possible deterrent, security cameras have limitations in solving crimes. The dozens of cameras the San Francisco Police Department has installed since 2005 have often produced poor quality footage.

Oakland plans to install 30 security cameras over the next two weeks, a move Juarez hopes is just the beginning.

“Hopefully we will have more than 30 cameras when the program is done with.”

Juarez said the additional police foot patrols merchants had pressed for after Campos’s murder have already started to happen.

Campos was well-known at City Hall and had been working with the mayor’s office to improve safety in the Fruitvale neighborhood when he was killed.

Police suspect his murder was a botched robbery attempt by two men they describe as African Americans in their 20s or early 30s. No arrests have been made in the case.

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